Foreigners are allowed to stay in Thailand under a business visa as long as he has a work permit. One among channels for them to acquire a work permit is through the privilege granted under a BOI investment promotion. However, holding a work permit does not mean that they can freely work; those expatriates can work for only the specific employer specified on their work permit. If the work permit holder desires to work for a different employer, the person will need to go through a process of changing employer.
Although moving work permit from a BOI company to another can be done under flexible restrictions and requirement thanks to the privilege of the investment promotion, changing from a BOI-based employer to a non-BOI employer is another story.
In order to accomplish the process of changing employers the first thing to do is to have the existing employer remove the employee from the existing position as well as to cancel the work permit and visa via the Single Window system. The employer may choose for it to take effect immediately or up to 21 days from the submission date. Then the work permit holder should take his passport and the documents from the employer to cancel his current Visa within the effective date. The foreigner then will have to leave Thailand in order to apply for a new non-immigrant “B” Visa so as to be able to work with his new non-BOI employer.
Changing an employer from a BOI-based company to a non-BOI one may seem complicated and take a great deal of effort and time, but it actually can be done. You just need professional support from an expert like Thai Lawyers.
Contact Thai Lawyers for your business needs in Thailand.